Universal Music names Jeffrey Remedios to replace Randy Lennox

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A high-level game of musical chairs has played itself out upon the Canadian music-industry landscape on Tuesday. Bell Media announced it had hired Randy Lennox, the long-time president and CEO of Universal Music Canada, as its president of entertainment production and broadcasting. In a corresponding move, Universal named Jeffrey Remedios, co-founder of Arts & Crafts Productions, the country's leading boutique music company, to replace Lennox.

"This company has been my home for many years and I leave with the confidence that it's in excellent hands, with a senior executive team who will lead the business into a bright future," Lennox said in a statement released Tuesday morning.

"Randy will be a tough act to follow," added Remedios, whose move is effective Sept. 21.

Universal is the largest among Canada's major label giants. From its Toronto head office, it sends out Christmas cards to the likes of Justin Bieber, Shania Twain, Drake, Carly Rae Jepsen, Diana Krall, Rush, the Tragically Hip and its latest star artist, R&B sensation The Weeknd.

The loss of the urbane, progressive Remedios to Universal is potentially a major blow to Arts & Crafts, an internationally respected operation established in 2003. However, Universal already distributes Arts & Crafts music within Canada, and Remedios will retain his ownership share and continue to serve as a board member with the company.

Co-founded by Remedios and musician Kevin Drew, the Toronto-based Arts & Crafts bills itself as a "music-focused artist services company," peddling albums while offering services in management, merchandising and publishing. Its chief artistic exports include the indie-music collective Broken Social Scene and the breakout singer-songwriter Feist. For the past three summers, the company hosted its own music festival, Field Trip, in downtown Toronto.

In 2009, Rolling Stone magazine lauded Arts & Crafts' collaborative approach to launching careers and monetizing its alternative music. In the book Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance, the label was hailed as a model for a new generation: "They managed to balance ambition and realistic expectations, casting aside defeatism and allowing the art to speak for itself."

With his move to Universal, Remedios returns to his major-label roots. His experience includes a stint in the marketing department of EMI, a company since swallowed up by Universal. With the music industry in transition as a result of technological innovations, the poaching of the forward-thinking Remedios is a significant hire. Fellow Arts & Craft founder Drew applauds his partner's move back to a major. "We as an industry need a blood transfusion," he said in a press release. "And I believe Jeffrey is the perfect blood type."

Effective immediately, Kieran Roy takes over as president of Arts & Crafts. Roy is a co-owner of the company, most recently serving as vice-president and general manager.

Commenting on the shakeup, Drew, not fluent in corporate speak, assessed the new boardroom situation: "The way to continue moving forward," he said, "is to change shit up."